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Phillip Christopher Nell

Assistant professor , PhD
Phillip Christopher Nell

Department of Strategic Management and Globalization

Kilevej 14, 2. floor
DK-2000 Frederiksberg
Room 2.65
Tel.: +45 3815 5622
Fax:+45 3815 3035
E-mail: pcn.smg@cbs.dk



Link to this homepage: uk.cbs.dk/staff/Phillip_Christopher_Nell


Dr. Phillip C. Nell is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Strategic Management and Globalization at the Copenhagen Business School and he acts as academic director of the CEMS program. He holds a European Master of Business Sciences (EMBSc) degree and a Diplom-Kaufmann from University of Bamberg. In 2009, he received his PhD from WU Wien in the field of international management and, subsequently, joined Copenhagen Business School. Before joining academia, Phillip gained considerable industry experience as a consultant with Roland Berger Strategy Consultants and conducted projects in Germany, the US, and in France in several industries. His research interests are centered on the organization of the multinational corporation, the management of subsidiaries, and the role headquarters play in large and complex organizations. His research has been published in Journal of International Management, Journal of World Business, International Business Review, and Research Policy.
He teaches the following courses (graduate level):
  • Corporate and global strategy
  • Foundations of Strategy
  • Global Marketing Research
  • Data Management and Analysis for Decision Making

Primary research areas

  • The organization of the multinational corporation (MNC)
  • Headquarters configurations and headquarters value-added within MNCs
  • Intermediate levels of organizations and multi-agency relationships (regional and divisional headquarters)
  • Organizing for effective knowledge transfer within firms
  • The problem of selective intervention
  • Intra-organizational and inter-organizational networks in the context of the MNC
  • Causes and consequences of external embeddedness of MNC units


Administrative functions

CEMS Academic Director


Selected publications

Nell, P. C. and U. Andersson. Forthcoming. Environmental complexity and its influence on subsidiary relational embeddedness. International Business Review.
K. Foss, N. Foss and P.C. Nell. Forthcoming. MNC Organizational Concepts and Incentive Conflicts: How Can MNCs Control Perceived Center Opportunism. Journal of International Management.
V. Mahnke, B. Ambos, P.C. Nell and B. Hobdari. Forthcoming. How do regional headquarters influence corporate decisions in networked MNCs? Journal of International Management.
Nell, P. C., B. Ambos and B. B. Schlegelmilch. Forthcoming 2012. The MNC as an externally embedded organization: An investigation of embeddedness overlap in local subsidiary networks. Journal of World Business.
Nell, P. C., B. Ambos and B. B. Schlegelmilch. 2011. The Benefits of Hierarchy? – Exploring the Effects of Regional Headquarters in Multinational Corporations, in: Asmussen, C. G., Pedersen, T., Devinney, T.M. , Tihanyi, L.  (eds.): Advances in International Management, Vol. 24: “Dynamics of Globalization: Location-Specific Advantages or Liabilities of Foreignness?, p. 85-106.
R. Piekkari, P.C.  Nell and P. Ghauri. 2010. Regional Management as a System – A Longitudinal Study. Management International Review. 50, p. 513–532.
M. L. Lehrer, P. C.  Nell and L. Gärber. 2009. A National Systems View of University Entrepreneurialism: Inferences from Comparison of the German and US Experience. Research Policy, 38 (2009), p. 268-280.


Last updated by Pia Elmegård 19/01/2012